“Are you truly this oblivious?” There was no hint of humor in Liam’s voice or face.
David tried to step forward.
Liam held him in place and leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “I’d wager a year’s rent there is a gentleman whom she would accept if he would just get his head out of his arse, open his mouth, and speak the words she longs to hear.”
David furrowed his brow, wracked his brain. Tamped down an unexpected surge of jealousy that constricted his chest. “Who?”
Fairfax? No, the viscount was an incorrigible flirt. Couldn’t be Huntley, could it? The cub was barely out of university. Sutcliff was already married. Leighton? Who else had she met?
Looking deeply frustrated, Liam briefly covered his face with one hand, shook his head, then gave David a not-so-subtle shake. “It’s you, you bacon-brained idiot.”
“Me?” The floor seemed to drop out from under David. Good thing he was leaning against the shelves. Only them at his back and Liam holding his shoulders seemed to be keeping him upright. “But… but she knows I have no intention of ever marrying.” He barely got the words past his closed-off throat.
“Does she know why you think that?”
Mutely, David nodded.
“While you were recuperating, hidden in her bedchamber, did she ever have occasion to observe you walk barefoot?” David nodded again, and Liam continued. “Does she know why you limp?” Liam tightened his grip on David’s shoulders, digging in his fingertips. “Did she see your legs?”
Again David nodded, not trusting his voice.
“And what was her reaction? Did she run away screaming in horror? Make a derogatory comment? Look upon you with pity?”
David stood tall. “Of course not!” He slumped a little. “She was…”
“Yes?”
“Concerned their difference caused me pain.” His voice was barely a whisper.
Liam patted David’s cheek. “I should show you the letters she wrote me each day while you were in her care.”
Jealousy flared in David’s chest again. “Letters? To you?”
“Updating me on her patient’s progress.” A sparkle of mischief lit Liam’s eyes. “After she confessed that you were in her bed, unconscious, I asked her to take good care of you. Her maid met with Gilroy every day, to bring me a letter and get your clothes from your valet, piece by piece.”
A surge of emotion swept through him, stealing his breath. David’s mind raced, trying to remember the days he spent in Ashley’s care. So much of it, especially the first few days, were fuzzy. She wrote to Liam? Every day? He narrowed his eyes.
Liam gave David’s chest a double pat and dropped his hands. “Yes, I think I could easily fall in love with her. But because of my friendship with you I doubt she would accept my suit. And if you don’t get your head out of your—”
“You made your point,” David growled.
“—I won’t even be able to remain friends with her. She’s a bluestocking, and brazen, and she laughs at my stories in all the right places.” Liam walked back to his chair. “I quite like her for it,” he tossed over his shoulder.
David quite liked her, too. Did he love her? He certainly enjoyed the time he spent in her company, even if much of the time he had been in pain or half-foxed. Or both. She kept her head in a volatile situation. Possibly saved his life, or at least his arm. Upon learning his deepest, darkest, most closely guarded secret, she had responded with compassion and concern, not revulsion, pity, or contempt.
Though not a trained musician, she’d done her best to save the composition he’d been creating while drunk but promptly forgot when he sobered up. She had pushed him to make changes in his life though in such a gentle way he hadn’t even realized what she was doing, her words kind and thoughtful, helping him heal emotional wounds while she ministered to his physical needs.
And her kisses…
Enthusiastic. She made his blood boil, his heart pound, in a way no one else ever had. Even when he smelled of flash powder and had barely altered his costume from the Bogeyman by flipping over his cape and adding a red mask so he could attend the masquerade ball, he’d risked discovery … just so he could waltz with her. Hold her close.
She knew all his secrets. About his short leg. That he’d been the one to rescue her from being ruined by Rupert. That he’d dressed up as the Bogeyman to protect two women and been injured in a fight protecting yet another. And he hadn’t suffered a moment’s worry that she would betray his confidence. Instinctively he knew he could trust her. Georgia’s three-legged pup had trusted Ashley right from the start. Dogs had excellent instincts about people. She’d invited the battle-scarred dog onto her lap and called him a handsome fellow.
That pause when she told him about the school… Had she been waiting for him to declare himself? He’d been surprised by the sudden stab of pain at the idea of her leaving London to open her own school. Did that mean he’d never see her again?
Another stab of pain shot through his chest, stealing his breath.
He slapped his forehead. “I’m an idiot,” he muttered.
